BROCKWAY – Ten Curwensville wrestlers, led by returning champion Derek Brothers, received seeds for this weekend\’s District 9 Class AA Tournament in Clarion University\’s Tippin Gym at the seedings and pairings meeting in the Brockway Area High School Tuesday night.
\”That\’s more than we expected,\” Golden Tide coach Duane Wriglesworth II said. \”We thought we\’d get six or eight, so we\’re happy with that.\”
Brothers (27-2), who won the 112-pound gold medal last year, is the No. 1 seed at 119.
Freshman 112-pounder Jake Keller (27-3) and senior 145-pounder Jeff Thomas (24-3) are seeded No. 2.
The other Golden Tide hopefuls will have to knock off higher seeds to reach the finals.
Junior Brett Sutika (18-9), fourth at 135, and sophomores Greg Koptchak (12-11), fifth at 103, and Zach Dimmick (11-11), fifth at 171, will be in the upper bracket with the No. 1 seeds.
Seniors Tyler Peters (23-6), Jeff Smallwood (15-7) at 130 and Nathan Russell (25-6) at heavyweight and junior Wes McGarry (11-16) at 140 were plugged in at No. 6, meaning they would have to hurdle the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, barring any upsets.
Wriglesworth sought third seeds for the three seniors, but when they didn\’t receive enough votes, he pulled them out of consideration for fourth or fifth seeds to seek a sixth seed.
\”Our goal is to try to get as many kids in the finals as we can,\” he explained. \”So, let\’s find the path that\’s going to benefit them. That\’s what we were looking for, and I think we achieved that.\”
\”The way the procedure is done here, sometimes you have to put in for two or three seeds higher than the seed you want. If there\’s three coaches fighting for a two and you want a three, you\’ve gotta put in for a two.\”
Each coach makes a case for his wrestler, such as head-to-head outcomes, results against common opponents and other noteworthy wins.
\”It still comes down to the coaches\’ vote, and sometimes you get outvoted in those situations,\” Wriglesworth stated. \”So, you have to be thinking ahead. If there is somebody in one side of the bracket you don\’t want to face, then you may have to concede to a lower seed.\”
As expected, 9-AA Team Duals champion Ridgway (18-4) had the most No. 1 seeds with four, including two-time champion Garet Pisani (29-2) at 130 and defending titlist Joe Chittester (29-2) at heavyweight. The others are 103-pounder Corey Bush (25-5) and 160-pounder Zac Zelcs (28-3).
Three teams had two top seeds apiece, Smethport with defending champions and 100-Win Club members Tim Hubbard (26-1) at 125 and Jon-Marc Burdick (26-1) at 140, Brockway with Trevor Hartless (23-9) at 135 and Nathan Hartless (28-3) at 145 and Johnsonburg with Jesse Wolfe (26-1) at 112 and Josh Woodford (25-2) at 152.
Woodford was seeded ahead of returning state champion Dirk Cowburn (18-2) of Coudersport because of a 1-0 dual meet win on Jan. 6. Cowburn, who missed the first month of the season because of an injury he suffered during football season, has racked up 13 pins in 1:04 or less, seven of them under 25 seconds.
Redbank Valley\’s Trevor McCauley (22-5) is another returning champ who received a second seed. The 2008 gold medalist at 103 is behind Brothers at 119.
Two other defending champs are No. 1 seeds, Logan Shirey (24-4) of Redbank Valley at 171 and Dylan Major (31-3) of Port Allegany at 215.
Ross Nicholson (18-3) of Kane is the top seed at 215.
The tourney gets under way Friday at 3 p.m. with the preliminary and quarterfinal round and the first two rounds of wrestlebacks.
Two sessions Saturday will determine the three qualifiers for the Northwest Region Tournament the following weekend at Sharon.
First-round pairings for Curwensville wrestlers are:
125 – Peters vs Travis Mosher (11-11), Sheffield
130 – Smallwood vs Evan Shirey (3-4), Redbank Valley
135 – Sutika vs Steve Mitchell (14-15), Ridgway
140 – McGarry vs Robbie Alexander (5-14), Keystone
145 – Thomas vs Jon DeCecchis (5-12), Johnsonburg
152 – Kyle Kyler (3-12) vs (4) Sam Skraba (20-11), Ridgway
160 – Justin Smith (5-16) vs (8) Michael Palodino (18-8), Johnsonburg
171 – Dimmick vs Kyle Nobles (18-8), Smethport
189 – Matt Schultz (0-3) vs (2) Jacob Shields (23-7), Brookville
Quarterfinal pairings for the Golden Tide matmen receiving first-round byes are:
103 – Koptchak vs No. 4 Trey Constable (15-9), Brookville
112 – Keller vs winner of (7) Damien Kreckel (17-12), Smethport, and Nick Carnegie (5-14), Sheffield
119 – Brothers vs (8) Chase Kamats (16-7), Cameron County
285 – Russell vs winner of (3) Mark Divens (23-5), Clarion and Chad Hefright (4-22), Johnsonburg
